By Owen Quinn author Photos copyright BBC/Disney
So my biggest problem with this is that when it was announced as the return of Martha Jones, actress Freema Agyeman. But as more publicity stuff merged, there was no sign of her. Russell Tovey was rumoured to be the Master with Gugu Mbatha Raw who played Martha’s sister previously also joining as was the nasty American general from Torchwood Children of Earth. UNIT were to face off against the Sea Devils and the 15th Doctor mentions the war between the land and the sea in 73 Yards. So there was a lot of buzz around this.
So, no Martha in a return in the same vein as Mel, Ace and Tegan but Gemma Redgrave is back as Kate Stewart, now in a relationship with her officer, Christofer Ibrahim.
To be honest, this story kind of writes itself as a no brainer. Humanity has polluted the oceans so the Sea Devils rise up to kick some human arse. I was kind of hoping the original Sea Devil design would be used but here we have a redesigned one. It retains elements of the old ones we have already met with the 3rd, 5th and 13th Doctors but for me, they look like something from the Marvel/DC universe with their tridents. It is also a chance to expand on their culture and we get two more sub species of Sea Devils (I refuse to use Homo Aqua).
One is a fish of some sorts and the other, Salt, played by Gugu. She is more in line with the Silurian recon of the Matt Smith era and works well enough. When a Sea Devil is murdered by some fishermen who display it’s body, UNIT arrives including Russell Tovey’s Barclay to quell the situation. I liked the Doctor Who history recap and the implication that this is not the only time since the 3rd Doctor story that the Sea Devils have surfaced.
This is a global threat and I have to say the scenery is spectacular and wide sweeping. The Sea Devil cities rising from the deep are well done. The threat is very much real as we are surrounded by oceans. The Sea Devils have technology older than us therefore what can we do if they want to attack? We’d be helpless.
This is very much a message story ala the 13th Doctor’s episode Praxeous where plastic was killing us, triggered by an alien virus. The most chilling scene of the whole episode is when Salt throws the dead bodies of her stillborn children on the floor of the negotiation room for all the world to see. They died from choking on plastic, oil even excrement which man has ploughed into the oceans for decades.
But with no Martha, it is down to simple admin officer Barcaly Pierre-Dupont. Thanks to a clerical error, he is assigned to top secret missions by mistake. This error is a theme that Doctor Who has mastered over its history. Ordinary people in the wrong place at the wrong time yet when thrust into strange situations, coming up trumps. Kate, at first hostile, recognises this, especially when all the pomp and ceremony of ambassadors and world governments is cast aside by Salt and she picks Barclay for one very simple reason.
When Barclay at the start of the episode, made the sign of the cruciix before the dead Sea Devil. This mark of respect for a fallen creature he never even knew existed impressed Salt. It showed her he had compassion and something no politician could ever hope to give her. This says a lot as it seems part of Salt hopes war can be averted. Someone who shows her dead children to the thoughtless humans who caused it, should be full of vengeance and hate, without even the possibility of talks in her head. Yet she wants to talk. Whether or not, she likes what she hears is still to be seen.
Russell Tovey is spot on as the awkward, divorced, father of one, nervous Barclay, thrown into this madness as the sudden saviour of the world. I think the Doctor would approve given his hate of politicians. Indeed, Barclay has been touched by a simple hello from the Doctor, the year before when they met briefly. But that hello is in his head every day since. He is full of self doubt and fear but he now has to stand and be the man Salt hopes he is. He was horrified to see two UNIT personnel killed very unpleasantly by being sucked into ground before it solidified around them once the Sea Devils had retrieved their dead comrade.
He is the civilian. UNIT policy states that in these situations, a civilian must document it alongside UNIT, maintaining the tradition of the Doctor and his companion. These are all lovely touches that add to the overall mix.
This is a good start, a nice exploration of Kate Stewart and UNIT away from the Doctor and a very real threat as a war man cannot win looms. There is a lot to like here so hopefully they can maintain the quality.
The Time Warriors and Beyond 